Tell Me Again
by Lisa Anne1
Summary: Old story, new summary. This is the story about Erin, Buffy and Giles' daughter who loves to hear the story of her parents' love. I think it is just a sweet story. This was my first fic. I'm not very good at summaries so please just stop and read it.


Title: Tell Me Again   
  
Author: Lisa Anne   
  
Rating: G   
  
Summary: Giles and Buffy's daughter Erin likes to hear a story of their parents love   
  
Spoilers: No spoilers but takes place far into the future after The First is defeated…Tara never died, Anya and Xander are together.   
  
Disclaimer: I definitely do not own any of these characters, except Erin, Jared and Paige...Joss is the creator and mastermind behind everyone else. I was bored to tears in one of my classes and this popped into my head from out of the blue and a few hours later this story was born. This is the first time I have ever thought about Buffy and Giles as a happy couple.   
  
Email: buffygal8880@yahoo.com ….Please send me feedback because this is the first fanfic I have ever written.   
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to my roommate Beth who has taught me a lot in the pass year…We both have our little secretsJ Thanks for everything!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Erin Joyce Giles, you better be in your bed when I get upstairs!" Buffy yelled up the stairs to her seven-year-old daughter.

Erin ran from the bathroom into her bed. "I am mom! I'm just waiting for you to come upstairs and tuck me in!" The child yelled back. She pushed her long blond hair back behind her ears and waited for her mother to tuck her in.

A few minutes later, Buffy walked into her daughter's room. "Are you ready for bed?"

"Yes I am but mommy, could you tell me _the _story?" Erin asked

"Sure. Are we talking about _'Snow White'_ or the _'Little Mermaid'_?" Buffy asked knowing that was not what her daughter had in mind.

"No, no no! I want to hear _your_ story, _your and_ _daddy's_ story." Erin explained. "The first time he told you that he loved you."

"That story again? We've talked about this last night and the night before that. We talked about this last week…and the week before that. Are you really sure you want to hear it again? Aren't you tired of that story yet?" Buffy asked.

"No. Your story has everyone I love in it. Your in it, and daddy and Aunt Dawnie and Aunt Willow, Aunt Tara and Uncle Xander and Aunt Anya and Uncle Spike, everyone is in it. Please tell it to me again...please?" Erin whined. Her big green eyes gazed into her mother's big eyes. Erin was a perfect combination of both her mother and father. Buffy caved into her daughter's request.

"Fine but this is it. This story is retired after tonight, alright?" Buffy brushed her daughter's long blond hair back behind her ears. Erin pushed closer to her mother and rested her head on her mother. Buffy put her arm around her daughter and began.

"Well, I was sixteen years old when I had just transferred into Sunnydale High. On my very first day I met-" Erin interrupted Buffy for the first time.

"Mom! I know this part. This is the high school part. This part is boring. Can you just skip to the part when daddy told you that he loved you?"

Buffy smiled and stared at her daughter for a moment. She thought her high school experience was many things but boring? She never thought that. Of course Erin didn't know that her mother battled demons and vampires either. Erin did know that her mother as well as her father and their family fought bad things and they left it at that.

"Alright, alright, I get the point. I had just quit slaying-"

Once again Erin interrupted. "You mean you quit fighting bad things."

"Right, I quit fighting bad things. Aunt Willow's friend Kennedy took over slay-fighting the bad things. Aunt Willow and Aunt Tara had just graduated college and moved into their own apartment. Uncle Xander and Aunt Anya had just got back together, which everyone was grateful for since they drove everyone crazy arguing and-" Buffy was once again interrupted by her daughter.

"Like they argue now?"

"Yes, exactly how they argue now. Uncle Spike moved into Aunt Willow and Aunt Tara's old room. Aunt Dawn was still in high school."

"The one you work at now?"

"Yes, the one I still work at. Your father was getting ready to move back to England. He was staying in this house for the night before his flight back to England. Your father and I spent the entire night outside talking about everything we had been through together through out all the years we knew each other."

Erin interrupted again. "Like what things?"

"Well, we fought a lot of bad things. We also talked about people who had come into our lives."

"Who did you talk about?" Erin inquired.

"People like Faith," Erin knew who Faith was. She knew that Faith worked with her mother for a little while. Years after Faith broke out of jail to help in LA and then in Sunnydale to help defeat the First, she remained a friend with all of the gang. Faith had moved back to the East Coast and was fighting demons out there.

"We also talked about people like Olivia, Riley, Angel, Grandma and some other people. People who we cared about and that for one reason or another might have no longer been in our lives." Buffy paused and reflected on the people she mentioned. The only reason she mentioned Olivia was because Erin had met her. The Giles family literally ran into Olivia when they were shopping the previous summer in England in a little grocery store. When they turned the corner and saw Olivia and her husband. She looked a little surprised when she found out Buffy and Giles were married and had a child.

Erin had also heard stories about Riley but never met him and would never have the opportunity to meet him. He was killed in the Amazon while fighting a demon there. Buffy had attended his memorial service the fall before Erin was born. Erin knew he died but didn't know how. 

And then there was Angel. Angel and Buffy grew closer to each other over the years but it was not romantic. They shared a sibling relationship. They spoke weekly on the phone and saw each other at least once a month. Willow had stumbled upon a spell that destroyed Angelus. Angel was then allowed to be free and happy and be able to love freely without the risk of him loosing his soul. He was still a vampire but he would never have to worry about being evil again. He and Cordelia married after the Powers that Be resurrected her and let her true soul go back to her body. 

Buffy then thought about Joyce. How she missed her mother, even more than ten years after her death. She often had dreams that she was talking to her mother. Buffy was sad that her mother never lived to see Dawn grow into a beautiful, vibrant and intelligent young woman. It also broke Buffy's heart to know that Joyce would never see any grandchildren. Then, Buffy grew a little more depressed when she realized that Erin and any other children she may have would never have any grandparents.

"Ehem," Buffy coughed as she continued the story, "Uncle Spike was outside with your dad and I until right before the sun came out. He-."

"He had to go inside the house because of his sun allergies, right?"

Buffy smiled as she looked down at her daughter. "Close honey. He is allergic to the sun and he had to come into the house before the sun came out. After Uncle Spike went to sleep, your father and I sat on the front stairs and just watched the sunrise and watched people going to work or school or where ever they were going. We were thankful that we were both going to live good and safer lives. We never went to sleep that night. We went back inside the house. Aunt Dawnie was getting ready for school-"

"And you took a shower and daddy packed his stuff."

"Right. You tell the story so well…do you want to finish it?"

"No thank you mom. I know the story but I like it more when you tell it."

Buffy smiled again as she continued. "Okay, just checking. After I got out of the shower, we put all of dad's things into the car. Everyone came to say bye to him. Aunt Willow and Aunt Anya cried because they were so sad. Uncle Xander promised he'd go to England and visit. Even though Uncle Spike and your father didn't get a long, he was even sad that your dad was going away. "

"Why was he leaving? If everyone was so sad why didn't he just stay?" Erin asked for the first tine.

"He was going back because he didn't think he was needed here any more. He knew that everyone here cared about him. You know that England is far, far away from here. So we weren't going to see him everyday like we did then and that made everyone really sad. When we finally got into the car, he drove to the airport. I waited until he got on his plane to-"

Erin sat up and smiled at her mother. "Oh, this is my favorite part!"

"Once I saw him board the plane I walked away. I got a cup of coffee and watched his plane leave. I was really sad too. I loved your father very much and I didn't want to see him go away. Anyway, I got into my car and drove back home. I wanted to go to sleep because I was really tired. When I got home-"

Erin crawled onto Buffy's lap and began to tell the story with Buffy. "Daddy was waiting on the porch with lilies for me/you! He said he couldn't get onto the plane because he loved me/you." Buffy continued on with the story without Erin. "Then he kissed me."

"Then you lived happily ever after!"

"Right, or something like that. Now it's time for you missy to go to sleep. You heard your story, so now it's bed time!"

"I know, I know. I love that story more than any Disney movie." Erin unmade her bed and jumped into her bed as Buffy tucked her in. "When does daddy come home again?"

"Tomorrow. He will be here after you get home from spending time with Jared and Uncle Xander. Then on Saturday-"

"We're all going to get Aunt Dawnie from the airport! I can't wait! I miss her."

"I miss her too. Goodnight Erin, I love you."

Erin sat up and gave her mother a hug and kiss. "Goodnight mommy, I love you too."

Buffy shut off the light and walked out of her old bedroom and closed the door. As she made her way downstairs Buffy was relived that she and Dawn had decided to keep their home in the family. After Giles and Buffy were married they were going to sell it but backed out at the last moment. There were too many memories in the house to give it up.

She made herself comfortable on the couch. After saving the world for her final time, Buffy finished college and became a high school teacher, something she never thought she would be. 

When she was reading her final paper on "The Catcher and the Rye", the phone rang. "Hello."

"Hey, it's me. How are you tonight?" The gentle voice answered on the other end.

A smile found it's way onto Buffy's face as she put down the final paper. "I am much better, now that I am talking to my husband. How are you? How is your trip? Did you find the thingy you went over there to get?

On the other end of the phone, half way across the world, Giles laughed softly. "The trip was good. The artifact from ancient Egypt, the 'thingy' as you put it, is on its way back home. It should be there by the end of next week. I can't wait to get home. How is Erin?"

"Sleeping, finally. She wanted to hear the story again."

"Again? She always wants to hear that. She isn't sick of it yet?"

"That's what I said. That is the only story she has wanted to hear before bedtime for weeks. She said it was better than any Disney movie. Erin misses you, I-we both miss you."

"And I miss both of you too, but I'll be home tomorrow. You know I don't like being away from both of you but I have to travel, it's part of my job." Giles explained for the millionth time. He bought an old big, run down historical house and refurbished the building. It had become a gallery that housed items ranging from paintings to some of his old books to some old weapons that both he and Buffy had used over the years and other historical artifacts. 

"Giles, you own the gallery, you can have someone else go in your place."

"Oh no, not this again. Buffy this has been an ongoing argument for the past ten years. I promise we'll have time to disagree about this when I get home. I don't want to argue over the phone."

"Who's arguing? I was only suggesting-"

"Buffy!"

"Okay, all right, I'll stop, but we will talk about this when you get home."

A small smile found it's way to Giles' face. I'm sure we will."

"Thank you for calling. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Seeing you is even better than talking to you. Your plane comes in at two right?"

"Um- oh yes., at two. You know I can't wait to see you either, and Erin but I am going to let you go. I know you have to get up early and drive her to school, I want you to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." 

"Fine, I guess your right. I would rather talk to you but I guess sleep is good too. I love you and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Erin, hurry up, you're going to be late for school!" Buffy yelled up the stairs as she finished making Erin's lunch.

Erin, meanwhile, ran down the stairs wearing her backpack. Her long blonde hair was in two ponytails. "I'm ready."

"Good. Come on sweetie, you are going to be late!" Buffy said again as she put her daughter's lunch into her backpack. Erin took her mother's hand as they walked out to the car. They drove only a block and a half and pulled into another driveway. She beeped the horn and saw eight-year-old Jared running outside. Xander followed his son out to the car. 

"Hi Buff. Erin, how are you sweetie?"

"I'm good Uncle Xander! Are we still going mini-golfing after school?"

"Of course we are. That has been all Jared has been talking about for days. I'll see you both after school. Be good and have fun at school."

"How's Anya feeling?" Buffy asked as the children had their own conversations in the back seat.

"She's okay. She's a little sick again this morning but that has to be almost done. It's going to be a long nine months. How about you and the G-man? Are you guys ever going to have more kids?"

Buffy removed her sunglasses and put them on her head. "Xander Harris, Giles would have killed you if he heard you call him that, you know he hates that!" Buffy scolded Xander with a smile. "Honestly, I would like another baby sooner than later but we'll see."

"You know, I really don't freak out any more when you talk about having kids with Giles. It was a lot to handle at first, but I am so over it." Xander was right. Everyone seemed a little wigged out when Buffy and Giles began to date. It was a new concept to everyone. After all, they all looked at Giles as a father figure and not a peer. As their relationship progressed, it seemed to only make since that Buffy and Giles wound up together. They had been through so much together.

"Well, that's great Xand. I'm glad it only took you _ten _years to get over your case of the wiggins. We have to get going. I'll see you around 5:30ish tonight?"

"Yes you will. Are Will and Tara coming with Paige?" Xander asked referring to the baby Willow had given birth to. Paige was almost two months old and everyone loved her. 

Everyone was gathering at the Giles's home for their weekly dinner together. All of the friends tried to get together with everyone at least once a week. This week it was Buffy's turn to cook dinner.

"I think they are stopping by later with Spike but I'm not sure." 

"Oh goody, Spike is going to be there." Xander said sarcastically. 

"Xander, grow up. He doesn't bother anyone any more." It was true, Spike pretty much kept to himself. He loved watching everyone's children and was actually now more helpful than he had been previous years.

Xander was irritated with Buffy's comment. He still disliked Spike and was not looking forward to socializing with him. He changed the subject and focused on the kids. "Bye Jared, bye Erin, have fun at school. I'll pick you up at three."

"Okay, bye dad."

"Bye Uncle Xander"

"Tell Anya I was asking about her."

"Will do. Bye Buff. See you later tonight"

"Bye Xander, see you later." Buffy said as she put her sunglasses back on her face. She pulled out of the Harris's driveway and proceeded to drive to Sunnydale Memorial Elementary School. She parked the car and walked both children to the playground.

"You two have a good day at school and fun mini golfing. I'll see you two later."

"We will mom, bye."

"Bye Aunt Buffy." 

Buffy gave both children a kiss before she climbed back into her car. She had taken the day off from work so she could do a little organizing before picking up Giles from the airport. She pulled on to Revello Drive and drove to her house. She pulled into her driveway and smiled.

After she parked the car, she ran towards the porch. Standing on the steps was Giles. 

There was a bouquet of lilies in his hand. She immediately threw her arms around him. "I love you!" After a brief kiss, Giles told Buffy, "I love you too and I have missed you so much!"

She beamed as they unlocked the door. Buffy thought about Erin's comment she always added at the end of her parents' story. Erin summed up her life when she said, "and you lived happily ever after!"

The End. 


End file.
